What can we do to make crafting more fun in SWTOR?
For some people in MMO’s today crafting can sometimes be looked at as simply more than a utilitarian function, a means to help the overall leveling process. As something you do as merely a side thought when you need some type of item in-game. Some people would go so far as to call crafting “boring”, or something they do out of boredom.
To us that thoroughly enjoy these types of systems in MMO’s, we know them to be capable of so much more.
So what can we do to make crafting more fun in SWTOR?
What will your worth be as a crafter in Star Wars The Old Republic MMO?
I think on this subject a lot because to me it is very important. I derive great pleasure from being able to learn all the details about a crafting system in a massively multiplayer online game that I call home away from home.
I then achieve even more pleasure when I am able to take that knowledge and produce the finest items available to me as a master of that craft, in the most efficient manner. Provided that the game system I am in will allow the crafters to produce top-tier items. When I do however find a game that allows this, it is a joy to be a crafter because I know the fame that awaits the diligent, the methodical.
I have been called a “min-maxer” before and that’s ok. To achieve greatness and fame in a crafting arena one must be efficient, and creative. One must use a crafting and in-game economy to maximum effectiveness to be considered a true master.
From the last blog post I did we looked at the developer blog “closer look at crew skills” by Patrick Mallot. It was this piece of it that inspired this blog post and a lot of personal joy from me.
These are my personal opinions anyway. 🙂
“It’s worth noting that players will definitely need to be directly involved in the process when learning rare schematics”
That tells us that there will be such a thing as rare schematics, and that we as a player will have to be directly involved in the learning process. Learning the schematic won’t be something that the player can pass on to the companion because the schematic will need to inscribe itself into the players learned items database so that the player can access the recipe later when he wants to craft that item from that certain crafting skill.
With the first blog that I will post about the crew skills system in SWTOR I wanted to reach back into a dev blog from the main site and show you why it was that I decided I was going to partake in this crafting system they are creating.
You can find what I am referring to there. I wanted to take just the first part because to me it says enough to let me know I like where this is heading…
Swtorcrafter is a crafter at heart, dating back to the start of the Ultima Online beta. It was there that he developed his love of massively multiplayer online crafting systems, in game economies and fan site creation. It was there in that realm that he was first introduced to what it was like to play online with other people instead of just a single player PC game.
It was a grand six years, the longest he has been in any one MMO since.
He has searched countless realms searching for that feeling again, sometimes finding satisfaction, sometimes not.
Now as he grows older he decides it is time to “go all in” one last time to try to find that perfect anvil, the crafting system of his dreams, and the community to share his thoughts and insights with.
*Enter stage right*
The Game: Star Wars The Old Republic MMO by Bioware.
Release of Star Wars The Old Republic is still some months away and at this point nobody but the people at Bioware know what it looks like or what it plays like in its entirety. Bioware has been releasing a lot of information in this past year about what the game will consist of, but what we always seem to lack are completely detailed descriptions of the announced features. I guess playing the game and seeing that feature in action is the only way to fully understand it.
There are, however, other games that Bioware released over the years and are playable. They even have some features that are announced for SWTOR. To try and understand to the full extent some of the announced aspects of SWTOR, we have decided to play Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Mass Effect series and try and draw conclusions on what we can expect in SW: The Old Republic. It is only reasonable to assume that Bioware will base some of the game elements in their new game on success of that feature in the old games.
Spaceships have played a great role in the Star Wars Universe. It can be argued that space scenes and scenes in spaceships are as important as those happening in more “conventional” environments. It is a Space Opera after all. Millenium Falcon, the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy according to Han Solo, is an equally important character as the Droids or the Wookies. In Knights of the Old Republic we, as players, had a chance to own our ship – the Ebon Hawk. It is our means of transportation, our storage facility, it is the place where some major plot-lines are resolved. During 2010 E3 gaming convention Bioware announced that players will also be able to own ships and released a video showcasing the ship’s interior and exterior. In difference to KOTOR, there will be different class ships available. We have created a video pitching KOTOR’s Ebon Hawk versus the ships seen in the SWTOR video.
Space combat is going to be “an alternative gameplay experience to the primary game of storytelling, questing, and ground-based combat” …
We’ll be using our personal ships to “blast through asteroid fields, enemy fighters, frigates, destroyers, and a variety of other obstacles”
UPDATE 3: Alex Freed: Can customize companion via equipment similar to Mass Effect; one companion out at a time, and your player name is in your companion’s nameplate.
Each class story as big as original KoTOR, and no one shares content! (from Ask a Jedi)
UPDATE 4:
(from Darth Hater live blog)
If you are interested in Mandalorians, they play a large part in the game.
Another Question about progression, they view it extremely important and there will be a lot of it. Specifically mentions crafting in that vein
Ironically, nothing more about the multiplayer story other than mentioning there is one 🙁
The panel has apparently ended and we’ll be bringing order to this post and getting all the impressions from the attendees of the panel for you to read.
Comments Off on Ship customization and SPACE COMBAT! (Updated as things happen)
